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WCMB-TV
Not to be confused with WABM, the real life, MyNetworkTV affiliated station serving Birmingham, Alabama. WABM-TV (Digital and virtual channel 9) is a primary CW and secondary MyNetworkTV affiliated television station licensed to Erie, Pennsylvania , with studios and transmitter in Summit Township. WABM is currently owned by Lake Shore Broadcasting. The main subchannel on 9.1 serves as an affiliate of The CW and MyNetworkTV, while 9.2 carries Tribune Broadcasting's Antenna TV, and 9.3 carries FremantleMedia's game show subchannel network Buzzr. Syndicated programming aired on WABM-TV includes Family Feud, The Simpsons, Family Guy, The Cleveland Show, and Divorce Court. The station signed on in 2016. WABM is one of the few CW affiliates located in a small market that is a main channel and is not part of The CW Plus station group. History Mission Broadcasting ownership/LMA with Nextstar Broadcasting Virtual channel 9 was once the home of the WLEP-LD subchannels, with their digital channel having been on UHF channel 43, which operated from 2011 to 2015. 9.1 was affiliated with Luken Communications' Retro TV (branded RTV from 2009 to 2013), 9.2 carried PBJ, and 9.3 carried TuffTV during the day and classic movies from the 1930s to 1950s at night. LocustPoint Networks purchased the station in July 2014 with the intention to auction off the channel in the upcoming UHF spectrum auction then signed it off the air for good in February 2015. 3 days after WLEP went off the air, Mission Broadcasting applied for a full power license for the vacant digital VHF channel 9 frequency in Erie. Mission had wanted the physical and virtual channel 9 frequency in Erie for some time, but it was unavailable due to the previous station's existence. The FCC granted the license on October 1, 2015. The station started test transmissions in December. During the interim, Nextstar Broadcasting, which agreed to operate the station under LMA as they already have been doing with one sister sister station, reached a deal with Fox Television Stations, Inc. to air the MyNetworkTV syndication service, which had previously only been available in Erie on cable via Cleveland's WCDL and on Dish via superstations WWOR out of New York City and WSBK out of Boston, on 9.1. They subsequently reached deals with Tribune Broadcasting and FremantleMedia North America to air AntennaTV on 9.2 and Buzzr on 9.3, respectively, both of which were not available in Erie prior to the station's launch. The station launched on January 25, 2016 at 12pm. The station used the first three hours to air preview shows from all three subchannels. From 12 to 1, the station aired Law & Order: SVU, representing the main channel, from 1 to 2, the station aired back to back reruns of All in the Family, representing the AntennaTV subchannel, from 2 to 3, the station aired back to back reruns of Match Game '78 starring Gene Rayburn, representing the Buzzr subchannel. On July 3, 2016, 9.4 signed on as an affiliate of the FOX Family digital multicast network. From the time the station launched unti September 4, 2016, WABM simulcast the newscast from their direct sister station, while airing a repeat of their LMA sister. Nextstar announced on July 1, 2016 that WABM will launch its own newscast in the Fall of that year, later announcing September 5, 2016 as the launch date, originally slated to air at 6:30pm. On August 29, a week before the newscast's launch, Nextstar changed the timeslot to 7pm, as they felt putting it at 6:30 against the networks' evening newscasts would hurt its chances of being noticed and obtaining any ratings. The new newscast launched as scheduled on September 5 at 7pm. The company ceased the newscasts from the sister stations. On July 27, 2016, WABM added the -TV suffix to its call letters and updated its logo. Even though the station did not use the "My" branding that other affiliates of MyNetworkTV use during it's days as a sole MyNetworkTV affiliate, it utilized the syndication service's logo within the stylized 9 on the station logo. The lack of usage of the "My" branding was to avoid confusion with rival cross town station WTWF, which is affiliated with the similarly named network MyTV and uses the on-air branding "myTV 68." Sale to Lake Shore Broadcasting On January 13, 2017, almost a year after signing on, Mission Broadcasting announced that they were looking into putting WABM-TV up for sale sometime during the year. Tribune Broadcasting and Fox Television Stations, Inc. expressed interest in the station. However, Mission agreed to sell the station to upstart company Lake Shore Broadcasting on January 15, 2017, just two days after announcing they would sell the station. The sale closed on March 31, 2017. On that same date, WABM-TV secured the broadcast rights to the long running syndicated game shows Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune under a 3 season contract, creating a rare situation where a CW or MyNetworkTV affiliate airs both shows. Both shows are scheduled to move to channel 9 in the fall of 2017, when the contract takes effect, in an effort by Lake Shore Broadcasting to help both The CW and MyNetworkTV become a major network on a par with ABC, CBS, NBC, and sister network Fox. The shows will be part of a two hour block of game shows, with Jeopardy! airing at 6pm, Wheel at 6:30pm, and a double run of Family Feud at 7pm. The 7pm newscast will move to 10pm. The CW affiliation On April 21, 2017, Lake Shore Broadcasting announced that they have reached a deal for channel 9 to become Erie's CW affiliate, originally to take effect in September 2017. The CW had not been available in Erie prior to the affiliation deal. MyNetworkTV will remain on the station as a secondary affiliation, currently airing from 10pm to 12am Monday through Friday. Lake Shore Broadcasting was able to get the affiliation deal expedited on April 22, 2017, and will begin to air CW programming on April 24. Given that The CW was not available in the Erie market in any form (cable companies in the area refused to carry CW affiliates from nearby markets, WTWN out of Buffalo, New York, WXEL out of Cleveland, Ohio, and CW O&O WFJD out of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, denying access to the network within the market. This was due to stations within Erie claiming Syndicated Exclusivity (SyndEx) on a number of non-CW syndicated programs that aired on those three stations; cable companies in Erie did not want to deal with the burden of blacking out those programs), it was expected that CBS and Time Warner (the companies who own The CW) would agree to grant WABM the rights to air the network's programming at an earlier date. In September, MyNetworkTV programming will move to 11pm to 1am. WABM will air all of The CW's programming in pattern, with the exception of The Robert Irvine Show, which will air at noon instead of its intended timeslot, 3pm, due to the station's obligation to carry The Wendy Williams Show. Digital Subchannels Current WABM-TV schedule (main subchannel, 9.1) Confusion between WLEP-LD and WABM-TV WABM-TV is not related in any way to the defunct WLEP-LD. WABM's physical digital channel is located on a different frequency, and WABM is a full power station, while WLEP was a low power station. WABM's license is a new, separate construction permit issued after the demise of WLEP. Past logos Category:Channel 9 Category:Erie Category:Pennsylvania Category:CW Affiliates Category:MyNetworkTV affiliated stations Category:AntennaTV affiliates Category:BUZZR affiliates Category:Television stations and channels established in 2016 Category:Lake Shore Broadcasting Category:CW affiliated stations